CREATION

A Canadian oceanographer says though he has been studying the sea for a long time, it still holds many surprises. Canada, which has more coastland than any other nation on Earth and millions of square kilometers of territorial waters, is a leader in marine research. Gerhard Pohle, acting executive director of the Huntsman Marine Science Center in St. Andrews, N.B. took part in a ten year survey of marine life that ended in 2012. He says there is an amazing amount of biodiversity in the ocean. Authorities estimate one million different species make their home in the planet’s oceans, but almost two-thirds of them are still relatively unknown. Pohle said, “It’s staggering to think that as recently as 2011, we did not know how many species there are in the word by order of magnitude.” He added, ”I’m somebody who works on this and when I saw it, I couldn’t believe it.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell